How Can I Help My Child Learn Piano? Home Recital

Continuing on with how you can help your child with their piano practice. Last week I mentioned setting a routine and reviewing their assignment with them. This week I'd like to suggest the following:

1. Each week just a day or two before the lesson, have a family recital where your child plays their current pieces for you. In this way, they will see where they still need work, if any. And, it will help them to always be ready to play for people.
2. Encourage your child to play for their friends when they come over. Give them as many performance opportunities as possible to help build their confidence. When playing for friends, the should pick their favorite and best pieces to play.

That's it for this week. Stay tuned and Happy Practicing!

A Funny Name

In lessons last week I asked Olivia and Mike what the name of our composer of the month was and Olivia said, "Tchskidoo". You know... Peter Illyck Tchskidoo? He's the Russian composer who wrote the Nutcracker. It was very funny even if our composer of the month was Haydn.

How Can I Help My Child Learn Piano? Time and Assignment

How Can I Help My Child Learn Piano?
You are spending money each week for your child to learn piano. How can you help him to achieve his goals in piano?

1. schedule practice time. Mark piano practice on your calendar each day. It is most helpful to establishing a habit if the practice is done at the same time every day, or associated with a certain activity such as right after dinner or after homework is done.
2. check assignment. Just like you would check their school homework, set aside some time to look at your child's assignment sheet with them to be sure they are following the specific directions that I write down. It is most frustrating to me and the student when they come to the lesson and apologize for not doing something because they didn't look at the assignment. By checking the assignment sheet, they are learning to be diligent and observant. These traits will carry over into other areas of life.

That's all I'll give you for this week. Stay tuned for more ways to help your child in their piano learning.